5K Run-Walk-Run – 8 Weeks
Jeff Galloway
About the plan
An 8-week plan for people who don't run much — 3 to 7 miles (5-12 km) per week — and want to complete the 5K running well. The method is Jeff Galloway's Run-Walk-Run: walk intervals planned from the very first workout, not as a sign of weakness but as a strategy. A short break before fatigue sets in preserves mechanics, cuts injury risk and lets you complete distances that continuous running cannot yet sustain. The ratio evolves throughout the plan — it starts with little running and a lot of walking, and ends with long running blocks. There are three workouts per week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The ratio goes from 1 minute running to 1 walking and reaches 3 to 1, with volume growing along with it. Week 4 is a recovery week, week 7 sharpens and week 8 ends with the 5K. Paces come from your times in the magic calculator; update your reference race time in your profile before you start so that threshold, interval and race pace are calibrated.
The plan in numbers
- Duration
- 8 weeks
- Runs per week
- 3
- Weekly volume
- 1h 15m → 2h 15m
- Longest run
- 53 min
Week 1 starts at 1h 15m and volume builds to 2h 15m in week 6, the heaviest of the plan.
A typical week has 3 runs, and the longest session reaches 53 min (Long, week 6).
Over the final 2 weeks volume drops from 2h 15m to 46 min so you arrive at the race rested.
Race day (3.1 mi) falls on Sunday of week 8; the week holds 46 min of running before it.
Key workouts
The quality sessions that come up most in this plan:
- Long7 sessions across 7 weeks
Who it's for
Intermediate level. To start safely you should already be running about 1h 15m per week and be comfortable with a 29 min session — that is what week 1 asks for.
Week 1 — workout preview
1h 15m this week
21 min
25 min
29 min
Week 6 — the heaviest of the plan
2h 15m this week
37 min
45 min
53 min
Plan Structure
8 weeks · 24 workouts · 32 rest days
See the full plan
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